


Sunrise to sunset, it's just us

by nana-n-nono (aspiratixxn)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, it's just soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:42:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aspiratixxn/pseuds/nana-n-nono
Summary: Jeno didn't like sunrises until he did and now he thinks he'll never want to miss another one again.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Sunrise to sunset, it's just us

**Author's Note:**

> This is highly self indulgent and I hope you enjoy.

Jeno used to hate sunrise. 

Sunrise meant that he was up at some obscenely early hour. Sunrise meant losing out on sleep he desperately needed. Sunrise meant getting scolded by the makeup noonas, even though their scolding was more like teasing and their fretting had never been particularly directed at him so much as it was at the industry or his manager or whoever thought it fitting to make him get up before even the sun was awake. 

But then Jeno met Jaemin and before even uttering the first  _ hello _ , Jeno thought maybe he should re-evaluate his hatred of sunrise. 

Jaemin’s laugh is the first thing that Jeno hears when he enters the conscious world. He doesn’t open his eyes yet because he’s not really ready to be awake but he knows he’s not going to sleep again anytime soon. So he just listens, still surrounded by the warmth of his blankets. 

“NA JAEMIN! I SWEAR TO GOD!” Donghyuck’s venomous shout cuts through the air like a sharpened knife. Jaemin’s laugh takes on a tinge of nervousness, of fear, because even though everyone knows that Donghyuck won’t murder them because he loves them too much, that doesn’t mean he can’t make their lives a living hell for a day or two. Jeno wonders briefly what exactly Jaemin did to incite this rage but his question is quickly answered after Donghyuck screeches, “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU GET BACK HERE WITH MY CLOTHES??” Someone makes a strangled sound and Jeno has no doubts in his mind that it’s Mark. 

Jeno would be blissfully uninvolved if not for the fact that Jaemin darts into his room and slams his door, wrestling with the lock for just a moment before it clicks in place and then it’s just screaming outside in the hallway and heavy breathing inside the room. It takes all his willpower but Jeno manages not to groan, instead rolling over and looking at Jaemin sideways. “Really?” 

“Good morning Jen!” Jaemin giggles breathlessly. He dumps the lump in his arms to the side and then Jeno blinks and he’s on his back again with Jaemin right on top of him, nuzzling into his cheek like some kind of touch starved kitten. It tickles, just a bit, but Jeno pushes that itch away and sighs, laying his hand over the younger boy’s back lower back. “Didja sleep well?”

Jeno grunts in response, closing his eyes and letting himself relax. But not enough to dislodge Jaemin, no of course not. He slept fine, actually, but he’s not going to let that satisfy Jaemin when his antics in the morning are the very thing that woke him up. To his credit, Jaemin just giggles again and nuzzles into Jeno’s chest like he has every intention of burying himself there and never coming out. 

For a moment it’s peaceful. Mark or maybe Renjun must have wrangled Donghyuck back to his room to get a new change of clothes. Jeno briefly wonders where Chenle and Jisung are but they’re probably fine, inducing chaos somewhere else. If they weren’t okay, the entire dorm would be up immediately looking for them and Jaemin definitely wouldn’t be relaxed as he is now. He’d probably be screeching at the top of his lungs about his babies. He’s their unofficial mom after all, that’s what moms do. 

Jaemin molds himself so perfectly to Jeno, palms pressed flat against Jeno’s chest and elbows out from under his weight so they aren’t digging into Jeno’s ribs. He’s heavier now than he was before-- of course he is, how could he not be growing up to be the pretty young man he is now?-- but Jeno finds the weight comforting because in some sense, it’s the same weight it’s always been. It’s the same Jaemin even if he’s taller, broader, brighter than before. Because even if Jaemin is 0.2 centimeters taller (and no he won’t let Jeno forget), his shoulders are slimmer than Jeno’s and it just feels right in a way that the universe made them so similar and yet just different enough to match. 

Jeno runs his fingertips along Jaemin’s spine, no longer hesitating over the area he used to. Jaemin’s older now, he’s smarter about taking care of his body. He won’t suffer needless injury anymore, won’t ignore the signs of his body when they call to him. Even when it hurts his heart to ask, he’ll excuse himself from practice early if he feels a twinge and he’ll ask the managers to see a doctor if it doesn’t go away within a day. He’s smarter about it now, but still Jeno can’t help the skip of his heart whenever he passes over the area, even as his fingers run steady.

In moments like this when they’re just laying together, the sun’s light slowly creeping across the room, Jeno imagines that they could just be. Forever. There’s no daunting schedule behind that door, no screaming fans to please, nothing that comes with being famous and beloved and desired. But then Jeno feels guilty that he even thinks about it because truthfully, he could never give up the life he has now for anything else. He could never give up the other dreamies. And he’s ashamed to be so arrogant as to think that Jaemin would be his in every universe, not just this one. 

Jaemin makes a sound, a kind of rumbling in his chest. It takes a moment for Jeno to recognize that those were supposed to be words. He huffs out a laugh. “Words Jaem.” 

“Don’t wanna,” Jaemin huffs in response.

When Jaemin gets petulant like this, Jeno knows that he wants something. Because Jaemin is just that easy to read. Donghyuck would argue otherwise. Donghyuck would argue that Na Jaemin is as easy to read as a book sixty kilometers away through thick opaque glass every few meters. They’ve learned certain signs here and there but somehow no one else can pin down Jaemin as exactly as Jeno can. He doesn’t know why and he’s never been able to answer why, not when Jisung sneak questions him, not when Mark outright sighs in exasperation. 

Jeno lets his fingers drift up higher, over Jaemin’s collar and onto his neck. Jaemin lets out the smallest sigh, almost too delicate to even be called a sigh. He curls up slightly on Jeno’s chest, brushing Jeno’s fingers along the trim of his blond hair. Jeno doesn’t tilt his head but he knows if he did, he’d see the light stream through Jaemin’s pretty lashes at just the right angle. He knows that Jaemin’s skin will glow, not tan but not quite pale either. He knows that Jaemin’s lips-

“Jaemin,” he whispers. “Jaem, what time is it?”

The younger boy grouches a bit but reaches around and lands with exact precision on Jeno’s phone. “Ten.”

“Ten?”

“Ten forty three.” 

Jeno blinks. Ten forty three. Wait. 

“Wait shit, Jaem? What? Don’t we have somewhere to be at eleven?” Jeno starts to sit up before freezing because the younger boy lets out a wounded sound, as if Jeno’s attention to the schedule has personally hurt and offended him. So Jeno holds still even as his brain is shouting at him to get up before manager-nim bangs on the door, demanding Jeno get up and get his ass moving. Their manager can be terrifying when he wants to be. 

In his slight panic induced thought process, Jeno fails to notice Jaemin’s shaking shoulders right up until the younger boy can’t hold it anymore and snickers out loud. “Jen, calm down. It’s our off day remember? Did you get the schedule days mixed up?” 

Off day. Right. Jeno groans, finally, and lets himself fall back down to the mattress. Unfortunately he kind of forgot he had Jaemin’s unattached weight on him so Jaemin follows after a second’s pause, letting out a small  _ oof! _ as his cheek hits Jeno’s chest. Off days mean that Jeno doesn’t have to do anything or be anywhere he doesn’t want to be. It also means the rest of the dreamies can pull whatever shit they’d like, which explains why Jaemin stole Donghyuck’s clothing so early in the morning. Jeno can’t bring himself to ask why at this point. He’s kind of too scared to, in case the younger tries to drag him into some kind of convoluted plot that he knows he’s not going to want to be part of. 

They lay silent for a while longer, Jeno’s hand resting in Jaemin’s hair and Jaemin’s face smushed against Jeno’s chest. If the other dreamies saw them now, well, they’d be in for a world and a half of teasing. Even though Chenle and Jisung do this too. Even though Mark and Donghyuck do this too. The only one with rights to tease is Renjun, who is content to be pressed against someone's side but not fully laid on top of them. 

But it’s an off day and the door is locked and no one has any reason to bother them. So the space remains untouched, a small bubble of golden light streaming through Jeno’s curtains. Jaemin’s hair is fluffy because of the way Jeno’s been running his hand through it. Since when was he running his hand through it? It feels a little like instinct, like habit, something unnoticeable until something changes to make Jeno notice. In this case, the light starting to filter through blond strands, making them gleam like a pure white gold halo. Jaemin has had a couple hair colors now, tossed around here and there between black to blond to brunette to pink to blue to blond again. Jeno could never choose a favorite when they all look so different, so pretty under the light.

“Jen.” Jaemin’s voice is so sleepy, syrupy in nature. Jeno hums in response. “Jen, what’s your favorite time of day?” 

“What kind of question is that?” He answers, a rumbling laugh in his chest. Jaemin just smacks his chest half heartedly. “Well… It used to be sunset. Like twilight, after the sun is gone. Dusk?” 

“Fancy words.” Jeno wrinkles his nose. They’re not fancy. “You said used to.” Jaemin wriggles until he’s got his arms folded over and his chin resting on those folded over arms. It seems only appropriate that Jeno tugs his pillow under his head and sits up enough to meet the younger’s sleepy yet clearly curious gaze. “Why used to?”

Jeno could say the real reason. He could very easily say it’s because when he first met Jaemin, he fell in love with the blush pink on the younger boy’s cheeks, the sort of peach orange of his skin before he learned what sunscreen was properly. He could very easily say it’s because when Jaemin had pastel pink hair, every morning was easier to bear because dawn and sunrise were both Jaemin, just Jaemin, bringing Jeno back into the world of the conscious and somehow that made everything better. He could very easily say that even when Jaemin had shocking blue hair, it was like just after sunrise in the in between of the sky where night hadn’t quite ended and the skies themselves were just waking up. 

Instead he just says, “I just found a new favorite time.”

Jaemin hums. “So what is it then?”

“Well, w hat’s your favorite time of the day?”

“No fair!” Jaemin pouts, pushing himself up and at the same time crushing Jeno a bit into the mattress. “I asked you first!” Jeno just fixes the younger boy with a look and Jaemin pouts harder before relenting. “Okay,” he mumbles. “Don't laugh though, I'll hit you if you laugh. My favorite time is the witching hour.”

Jeno doesn’t expect that even though he does. Somehow he knew that Jaemin’s favorite time of day wasn’t the afternoon, when the sun is at its brightest and warmest. For all his energy and enthusiasm, Jaemin is a much quieter soul at heart. Jaemin likes to enjoy things to the fullest extent, so even though to some that might be trying everything as much as possible, Jeno knows that his best friend loves to just take his time and soak things up. 

“I like when it’s all quiet and I know you’re all here, or like I know that Hyuck and Mark-hyung are in their dorm and we’re all just breathing and. And _existing_. _Together_.” There’s emphasis on the last two words, some kind of full force longing in Jaemin’s voice that makes Jeno’s heart clench. “And I just think wow, I’m so lucky.”

Jeno would say the same, more even. He’s the luckiest in the whole world that he has Jaemin next to him. He’s so wildly lucky that the universe decided to put them and all the dreamies together, to be more than friends. Family isn’t quite right either, not in the way that they’re meant to be together. But Jeno doesn’t think about it too hard, instead humming and cupping Jaemin’s face with one hand. Jaemin reacts just as a cat would, rubbing into the touch and Jeno swears on his life that Jaemin purrs as he melts back down. 

There’s a long bout of silence, just like this. The light shifts ever so slowly, slanting down Jaemin’s nose and cheek and jaw and even though they haven’t moved, Jeno knows his heart is starting to pick up just a bit. He’s grateful Jaemin doesn’t have his ear pressed against his chest anymore because he wouldn’t be able to explain it if asked. But by the gods, Jaemin is beautiful. So beautiful. 

“Jen.”

“Mm?”

“Do you think we’ll always be together?”

“Always.” Like the sun rises every morning, with its sweet and gentle light. Always, as long as Jeno’s allowed to be by Jaemin’s side. The mood’s getting too heavy though, so Jeno adds, “You’re never gonna get rid of me.” That earns him a snort out of Jaemin and a small painful stab in his chest. 

“I don’t wanna get rid of you.” Jaemin’s muffled voice is so… Jeno can’t even describe it. It’s just a sound he wants to keep forever, in the confines of this room. “Never ever, not ever.” 

“Not even when I steal your jelly?” Laughter bubbles out of him when the younger boy’s head snaps up, eyes wide with fake distress. “I’m joking Nana.” 

Jaemin melts again, a dreamy look on his face as he closes his eyes. “Say it again.” 

“Say what again?”

“My name.”

“Nana.” Jeno’s favorite nickname. It’s something they picked up as kids, when they were softer around the edges, squishier in the center, so easily loved. Not that that last part has changed much, though it’s harder to show it now. “Nana,” he says again, even softer this time. 

“Nono,” Jaemin replies, just as soft. 

Later, Donghyuck will get fed up and bang on their door and pop the bubble. Later, they’ll go back to being Jeno and Jaemin, Jen and Jaem, two in a collection of seven dreamies. Later, everyone will pile together in the living room with food and they’ll all bicker over what movie to watch or what game to play and Jeno will try really hard not to stare at Jaemin when he laughs too loud and he’ll miss how Jaemin sneaks glances at him and everyone else will see it except Jeno and Jaemin themselves. 

But right now, Jeno leans in and presses a kiss to Jaemin’s forehead and whispers, “My favorite time of day is sunrise, light and pretty and quiet, just before everything starts.” And the smile Jaemin returns to him is exactly that, is exactly like the sun peering out from the horizon and bathing Jeno in the prettiest glows of blush pink and peach orange. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh so I've actually written a couple of one-shots and stuff for NCT before but this is the first one to be posted! I'm lowkey kinda nervous but I just. I love NoMin so much. So. Much. They're so cute and I cry over them a lot. Anyways, if y'all liked this one, I'll try to round up my other little blurbs/one-shots together and post them too! This one is definitely not very coherent because I was just like FEELINGS!!! but you know how it can be.
> 
> Honestly I don't have a lot of social media because it's a pain in the butt to maintain but like if y'all wanna chat I can definitely consider doing something like a twt or cc? I do have a tumblr but it's hella empty so I won't post it here but maybe the next time. 
> 
> Anyways! Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it! I hope you think about your favorite time of day and why you love it! I hope you find joy in all the little things you have every day! ♡ ♡ ♡


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